Threadlike motor uses sliding fibers to drive flexible robotic devices without gears

In 2023, researchers in the Soft Transducers Laboratory in EPFL’s School of Engineering presented the world’s first pump in the form of a fiber. The pump’s flexible tubing can generate its own fluid pressure and flow rate and be sewn into smart textiles to circulate fluids for thermoregulation and haptic feedback or to power wearable assistive devices.